Star's Melody
by itscyphr
Summary: She wants to rise to fame without using her last name. The reason? Payback. But she never expected to be working with the one and only Natsu Dragneel along the way. (Inspired by Skip Beat! Previously "Fairy Beats." )
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This story is based off of Skip Beat. I love that anime, it's so cute! I'm sorry if characters seem OOC. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Fairy Beats**

…

 **Stage One: How it Began**

" _Will you come with me, Lucy? To Crocus?"_

 _The blonde stared up at her beloved friend, brown eyes wide with joy. She gave him a bright smile, and a nod._

" _Of course!"_

She still had thirty minutes left before her second job. The more she glanced around, however, the more she worried that the girl she took the shift over for wasn't going to arrive. Lucy let out a sigh as she made her way towards her customer's table, carrying their lunch platter. Her hair was pulled into low twin ponytails that were tied by red ribbons. Her uniform consisted of a white blouse tucked into an orange high waist skirt with black flats. It was an uncomfortable uniform to move around in, but this was one of the jobs Lucy was lucky to find that had good pay. She wasn't going to plain, however. After all, if she didn't pay her apartment's rent, then she wouldn't be able to meet _him_ one on one. Yes, he was always busy. A rock star like was going in and out of cities, jumping concerts—there wasn't much Lucy could do about it.

Thinking about him made Lucy smile as she approached the two customers. When she approached the table, she brought herself back to reality.

"Here are your two meals," she said as she set down the platters on the table. Lucy gave them a small bow and added, "Please enjoy your meal."

The blonde made a turn, and headed back to the kitchen. She heard the sound of a girl panting run inside.

"Lucy! I'm so sorry!"

She quickly turned around and smiled at the girl she was waiting for. "No problem! Keep an eye out on tables 13, 5, 2, 7, and 10."

Lucy bowed her head and sped off to the changing room.

"T-That many?!" she had heard the girl whine back in the kitchen.

Lucy chuckled. She gazed over at the lock once she was inside the changing room, and almost cried out. If she didn't hurry to her other job, she was going to be late. Being late again was something she couldn't afford. Especially when the manager relied on her so much. Quickly, she began to change into her casual outfit. And by casual, it was a pale blue t-shirt with a star printed on the center, and plain jeans. As she pulled on her sneakers, the other waitresses started talking behind her.

"Did you hear? Sting's new album came out today!" one squealed.

"I know!" another said, "I already bought two!"

Lucy's ear twitched. Sting's album is already out? She had been waiting months for it! How could it be? She had always been updated on Sting's new releases.

"There were only a few left when I went to the store!"

Lucy's eyes widened as she let out a shriek, "WHAT?!"

Her co-workers stared at her with puzzlement. They watched the blonde girl quickly snatch up her things, and rush out of the room. If this had been a cartoon, she would have definitely left a cloud of dust behind her.

"I-I guess Lucy is a Sting fan?"

"I-It seems so…She's always appeared to be reserve, and not interested in that stuff…"

"Well, I guess appearances aren't to be judged."

The women looked at each other, and let out a giggle.

Lucy was already making her way down the streets, riding her bike full speed. She pulled her legs forward, making her bike go as fast as it could. She sped through pedestrians, not planning on catching her breath for one second. The wind made her hair look disheveled. The long pony tail she had neatly made had become loose with some blonde strands falling over her face. She was sort of glad she didn't have bangs, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to see where she was going if they were to get sticky against her face with all the sweat she was developing.

The music store soon came into view. Lucy gasped when she saw Sting's cardboard figure being put back inside. That was a sign that they sold out, but Lucy wasn't going to give up.

If there was one thing Lucy had been taught by her mother that was going to define who she is, it was to not behave with impatience. A young girl like herself must hold patience through tough times.

At this moment, Lucy had no patience.

Right after the employee had entered the store, Lucy sped inside still on her bike. She zoomed pass the young employee, and pressed on to the breaks before hitting the counter. She was breathing heavily, eyes staring directly, and incidentally, into the store manager. The guy in the back stared at her with a puzzled expression. Other customers were just as confused as he was. Lucy hopped off her bike, and then pressed her hands against the table.

"Please tell me," she took in a deep breath, and then exhaled, "You have Sting's new album available still?"

… _ **.**_

"Miss Lucy," a girl with fluffy, pink hair kneeled next to her inside the locker room, "Are you sure you're okay? Y-You seem to be exhausted…I can take over your shift if you'd like."

Lucy was huffing down on the tile floor, trying to pull on her black blouse. The sweat made it hard for the tight material to slide down. She gazed over at her fellow co-worker with a small smile.

"No, it's okay, Aries," Lucy said with a weak smile, "I can't afford missing today."

The café Lucy worked at is called the Star's Melody. It was a small, but popular café. Each employee went under the name of a Zodiac, with the exception of Lucy. The manager liked her name—it meaning light—and decided it was a good fit. The blonde got along with all of the employees. Everyone treated her as if she was his or her sister. There were days the café also held karaoke nights. Karaoke nights were Lucy's favorite; of course, the Poetry Slams was her favorite as well. She would have a broken arm, and would never miss a day here. It was the only place she felt she belonged.

"B-But…"

Lucy giggled and said, "But, Miss Lucy, you don't have to live in such an expensive apartment by yourself, and have two jobs just to pay the rent for it. Right?"

Aries gave her a small smile. She had quoted her right on.

"G-Geez…" the pinkette sighed. "Well, at least put on your shirt right."

Lucy had eventually gotten fully dressed. Transformation number two involved a black blouse with sleeves that fell to her elbows, black sacks, and black flats; it was a much more comfortable uniform. Normally, Lucy would be wearing a skirt, but there were days she had fallen and scraped her knees. And she knew it was mostly because overworking. Yet she reminded herself, _it's for Sting._ The thought of him made Lucy smile and let out a dreamy sigh. Once she had her hair pulled into a braid, she made her way out to continue being a waitress.

"Lucy!" a dark haired man with slicked black hair walked up to her and said, "You still have that plain braid? Your hair is gorgeous, you have to let me style it one day!"

Another co-worker that went by the Zodiac name, Cancer. He was obsessed with cutting, and doing hair. Oddly enough, despite his great talent, he still chose to stay in the café.

"Maybe one day," Lucy said, "But right now we have work to do."

"Miss!" a customer called out to her. "Can I get a slice of cheesecake?"

Lucy quickly nodded at her, "Of course!"

She couldn't deny that her legs were screaming. And she couldn't deny that her head was throbbing. After finishing up several orders, Lucy had decided to take over the cashier's spot. When she heard the bell ring, the sign that someone entered, her droopy eyes quickly lit up as she welcomed them. She looked over at the clock, noticing she had six hours left. This was a normal day for Lucy. A regular routine. And she would constantly remind herself, _this is for Sting._ He was a busy rock star; he needed someone to care for him. He needed his biggest fan by his side. The sound of the bell rang again.

"Welcome!" Lucy greeted with her practiced smile. A group of teenage girls walked inside. They were wearing their school uniform. The blonde eyed them as they chatted. They were most likely her age, 17. Lucy had never gone to high school. Ever since Sting had brought her to Crocus, she only worked. In short, she never had a typical high school life. Deep inside her, she felt envious. She's always wanted to talk to girls her age. Sure she had Aries, Virgo, and Michelle…but they were all older than her. And Michelle? She was a Heartfilia. Michelle was busy in the luxurious life.

But she remembered that she was also a Heartfilia. Too bad it was a name she couldn't stand having. The luxurious life: make-up, parties, dresses, concerts, banquets. Things all princess like—she could have had it. But when she had to choose between Sting and her father, the answer was obvious.

Would mother have wanted that for her?

"—My, my is someone spacing out in the middle of work?" a male's voice interjected her thoughts.

Lucy quickly looked over at the manager, Leo. His hair was an orange mess, but apparently it was in style. She gave him a slight smile.

"A girl daydreams," she replies coolly.

"It looked like you were about to start snoring," he chuckled, but then his voice changed into a soft tone. "Say, you seem tired. How about I take you home?"

"I can't…"

"Right, right. Just worrying for my employees. Okay, not home, but what about _my home_?" he said with a wiggle of his eyebrow. Lucy let out a laugh and gave him a slight shove.

"You know, if you put on some make-up and got some bangs, you'd look a lot more like your mother," Leo pointed out. Lucy's smile soon faded. How could someone as plain as her look like Fiore's best supermodel? He was only being nice, surely.

"…I can't afford it," Lucy answered with a nervous chuckle.

"I understand you don't want to use your last name, but you're going to have to take advantage of it one day."

Lucy stared at him, blinking. She gave out another nervous chuckle, understanding what he had meant. There was going to be a day when something bad was going to happen, and she would have to talk to her father. No, she didn't know what would happen, but that was how destiny played with her strings. She would never admit, but she was still running. Aquarius, one of the main employees, had scolded her about it.

" _One day you're going to break your damn legs, and cry like a little bitch. And that day, you're going to need Jude."_

"Yeah…" she mumbled, only a breath of the word escaping her lips.

"Be careful, Lucy. I don't know what I would do without you," Leo gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I gotta go for the night. Lock up, kay?"

Lucy nodded and waved goodbye.

 _Just a few more hours…_

When it was finally closing time, Lucy groaned from both joy and pain. She was the last one in the café, so she was the one to lock up like Leo had told her to do. Above the café were two apartments, Leo's and Virgo's. Leo would go work somewhere else during the night, and Virgo only has a morning shift, so in the afternoon she would be out until late night.

The blonde finally began to make her way back home. Reaching the apartment was going to take thirty minutes on bike. Lucy had struggle getting on it. Her butt fell numb as if she had been sitting on concrete all day. And she couldn't even begin to describe the jellyness of her legs. Even so, she pedaled on.

She soon reached the apartment building, her gaze fell up towards her window with a hope that Sting was going to be there.

Much to her joy, the light of her apartment was on.

She quickly went inside before leaving her bike locked against the bike rack. It was as if all of her soreness vanished as she ran inside the building. Quickly, she got inside the elevator, impatiently waiting for it to get to her floor. She hadn't even given the elevator the chance to fully open when she had sped out.

 _Sting, Sting…_

Lucy swung the door to her apartment open and squealed when she saw Sting plopped on to her couch. "Sting, you're here!"

His deep blue eyes looked over at her. "Don't be so friggin' loud…"

He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, and sweatpants. His hair a spiky mess like always. Sting still looked amazing to Lucy. She wouldn't mind if—even though he was dressed like that—he were prince charming.

"R-Right," she nodded, shutting the door behind her. Lucy set down her backpack, and walked over to the coffee table, setting herself down on to the carpeted floor, legs under her thighs. She couldn't believe he was actually here. It had been months since he had last visited.

"Do you want something to eat?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Sting snorted, "It's midnight. I already ate."

Midnight? Lucy glanced over at the clock, noticing he was right; of course, who would have dinner at this time anyway?

"I-I'll go prepare some tea then…" she began to stand up.

Sting didn't reply, but continued going through the channels on the television. Another thing Lucy paid for him.

" _And here we have, Natsu Dragneel!"_

Lucy's eye twitched. She wasn't even fully standing when she had heard the voice of the announcer. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead as she slowly looked over at Sting. "W-Why don't you change the channel?"

His expression was poker faced, but Lucy knew what he was thinking. Sting hated Natsu Dragneel. He would always say he was his rival, and that one day he was going to be a better star than him. From what Lucy knew, Dragneel is 21 years old, and is a famous actor; she had never seen any of his dramas or films because she felt like she would be betraying Sting. With careful footsteps, Lucy walked over to Sting. She reached for the remote, but his arm flew to the other side.

"C-Come on! I don't want to hear about that geezer! I mean who cares about him?"

"Quiet." His response made her eyes widen, but she did so anyway.

" _Now, Natsu Dragneel, your fans want to know: What type of woman are you into?" the interviewer asked._

" _Type of woman, eh?" Natsu let out an amused chuckle. He ran his hands through his pink spikes of hair. "Let's see…Definitely adventurous! Smart, quick witted. Oh! She has to love cats!"_

" _Wow! You hearing this, ladies?"_

Lucy cringed at the squeals of the girls in the background. She huffed, not seeing what was great about Dragneel anyway. He was a total weirdo. Especially with that hair of his. Pink? It for sure has to be faked. She quickly looked over at Sting, who had the expression that sent chills down her spine.

"Uh…Sting?"

"I'm leaving," he said while standing up.

"Already?!" the blonde exclaimed.

"I only came here to get some clothes," he said, already heading towards the doorway. He put on his shoes, and pulled his backpack over his shoulders. "See ya whenever."

And he was already gone.

Lucy bit her lower lip. She only got to see him for a few minutes. A few minutes wasn't enough. Lucy sat down on the couch, and stared at the closed door. He just left. Not even a hug, or proper goodbye.

" _My hair? I thought I told you guys! It's salmon not pink!"_

Natsu's voice made Lucy's eye twitch several times. She snatched the remote from the coffee table and turned off the television.

"I hate him!" she cried out.

… _ **.**_

She hated the wrong person.

Lucy stared at herself in the mirror, pushing side her bangs to reveal her eye. Her hair that used to reach her lower back was now shoulder length. Her decision of changing her look came from a rather heart breaking situation.

It was the day after Sting was in her apartment where she had learn the truth.

" _Excuse me?" Lucy squeezed through a crowd of fangirls to walk up to security. "I have a breakfast combo from the Star's Melody to Sting Eucliffe." It was a lie, but she really wanted to see him._

" _Give me a second to—" the security guard was immediately cut off by the shrieking of the girls. "Shit, go in! Hurry!"_

 _Lucy nodded and quickly went inside the building. She felt suffocated behind the girls. She quickly made her way to the front counter of the hotel, saying she had a delivery for Eucliffe. The receptionist gave her his room number, and so she began to make her way to his room. Lucy approached the door, a happy smile on her face. She had made the vanilla cake herself, and was hoping Sting would enjoyed it._

 _Right as she was about to knock, his voice talking to another woman made her hand stop midair before she could knock._

" _How long are you going to be using that girl?" inquired a female._

" _Until I'm international, duh," came Sting's response._

 _What?_

 _Lucy pressed her ear against the door, wanting to hear more._

" _She's nothing but a dumb, airheaded, blonde—she'd do anything for me. Lucy's my property really."_

 _A gasp escaped her lips. God, was she hoping her ears were betraying her._

" _Besides, Minerva…you're more my type…"_

 _Minerva's voice came out annoyed, "Just because I'm your manager doesn't mean you can also use me like that trash of a girl."_

 _Trash?_

" _Vicious," Sting chuckled, "I like it. So glad I'm with you and not that plain, stiff, lacking in sex appeal blonde."_

 _She couldn't hear anymore. She was ready to runaway, but before she had the chance to do so, the door flung open. Her brown eyes locked with Sting's blue ones. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks. Behind him was Minerva. She was tall, had dark hair—appeared to be part Asian. If Lucy said her resting bitch face wasn't scary, she'd be lying._

" _What are you doing here?" Sting questioned._

" _I…" the blonde's lip trembled. The hand that was holding her coffee trembled. Every word he had said tore her apart. It was as if he somehow managed to pierce right through her sharp arrows. The feeling she felt…it was heart break. Yet, an anger swirled inside of her._

" _To…" she mumbled._

 _Sting let out a sigh, "Come on. Speak up."_

" _Sting," Minerva spoke up, "She overheard us—"_

"— _to…GIVE YOU THIS!" the blonde let out a yell as she through the coffee at him. Sting let out a cry when he felt the hot liquid go through his shirt. Lucy dropped the bag that held the cake, and ran off._

" _GO TO HELL!" she glanced back and cried out._

 _Both Sting and Minerva were speechless._

" _Who knew…" Sting said with a slight grin, "She had another side to her."_

And that was why Lucy left her apartment, moved in with Virgo, cut her hair, and bought new wardrobe. She had given herself two options to deal with Sting. One was to be a depressed mess in her room, or to, well, get payback. Lucy is easy to forgive, truly. She had been told many times she was way too nice. And it was true. She needed to accept anger and loudness. To talk back, and defend herself. She couldn't believe herself, and how she let him play with her like that. She was infuriated. Her life was taken by him, and so was her heart. And he had thrown both into the bottomless trash bin.

She placed her hand on the mirror she faced, "Just you watch Sting…I'll show you that I can also reach the top better than you…"

Behind her was a smiling Virgo. "I'm glad you've finally moved on from him. I approve of your new look."

A smile curved her glossy lips. "Cancer did a great job, huh?"

When she had decided to "remake" herself, her co-workers greatly encouraged it. Cancer, of course, took care of her hair. Virgo took her out shopping with Aries. Something she had never done until today. She was wearing an outfit that appealed to her; it felt fresh—new. She felt her age with her white, skater skirt and crop top. And the feeling of new flats made her feet feel alive. She would have never considered buying an expensive cardigan in the past either, but she felt good. Her new clothes made her want to walk out into the city with her chin raised. She was given confidence in herself that didn't involve dealing with work, surprisingly.

"Yes…I do have a question, however, how do you plan to get payback specifically?"

"Simple, I finally begin an acting career," Lucy turned around, beaming.

Virgo questioned her with a tilt of her head, "As Lucy Heartfilia?"

"No. Just as Lucy."

She didn't hate Natsu Dragneel. She hated herself for never realizing how she had lived. And now, her goal was to get into Vermillion Zero, a famous agency.


	2. Chapter 2

**Figured it was time for an update. I'll be adding song quotes or just relevant quotes from now on. ^-^**

…

 **Fairy Beats**

" _I know exactly what I want and who I want to be." –Marina & the Diamonds_

 **Stage Two:** _ **Part One, Auditions!**_

…

Lucy quit her job at the restaurant. She didn't see the reason to have two jobs now that she lived with Virgo. From now on she only had one job and that was the Star's Melody. Leo had given her the weekends off along with a reasonable raise; it was about time he had given her one, and Leo agreed. During the weekends Lucy would wander downtown Crocus in her bike. Downtown Crocus is where Vermillion Zero is located. Frequently, she'd pass by edifice with no will to enter. Only would she roam around, feeling clueless. A regular girl like Lucy wouldn't have ever thought about being around a place full of rich, and famous people, so she would have never thought about going inside VZ. The place was full of celebrities with their managers looking for jobs to do. If Lucy was to go inside, she was scared of how she would react. Was she to barge in there and demand for a debut? It was clear that the girl didn't know how to make her way to fame, but, somehow, she had to get there.

Towards the end of her day, she'd only be helping out in the café, wondering how to become known as an actress.

"Hey, princess!" Leo walked up to the blonde with his usual pearly teeth flashing. Lucy noticed him waving a pink flyer in his hand.

"I got good news for you."

She tilted her head at him, hands gripping her hips, "It isn't some silly request for a date now is it?"

"Well, if you'd like?" he smirked, handing her the flyer. Lucy held on to the flyer, a gasp escaping her lips as she read it.

 **Vermillion Zero Auditions!**

 **The time for the next generation of talents has arrived!**

They offered opportunities for dancers, actors, and singers. Those that pass the audition will be given the chance to go to a training school and even work alongside famous celebrities. The requirements were basic. The one auditioning had to give a background check, show his or her unique talent, rehearse several lines—or perform a choreography in a case of a dancer—and show their full capability as a rookie actor, singer, or dancer. Lucy kept scanning over the flyer until an excited squeal came out of her.

Her arms flung around Leo's neck as she pulled him into a suffocating embrace. "Thank you!" she squealed repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you!"

The attention of the customers, especially the regulars, went to the two. Immediately, Lucy pulled away from Leo who didn't want to let go of her waist. An embarrassed blush hued her cheeks as she light heartedly pushed him back; his response was an amused chuckle.

"Lucy!" called out one of the regulars that Lucy knew as Beatrice, "Are you auditioning for the VZ agency?"

"I intend to," Lucy answered with a nod.

"You should sing!"

Sing? Lucy did know how to sing. It was something taught to her by Sting's mother. She worked at as a songstress in a restaurant in Acalypha. Well, it was more like a pub, but there a pub and a restaurant could be counted as the same thing. When Lucy was little, she would always join Sting at the restaurant since he was the only friend she had back then. Together they would watch his mom perform. During his mom's free time, she would be teaching Lucy how to sing. The blonde recollected the day Sting's mom told her that one day Lucy was going to sing to Sting on of her own songs.

And all of her songs were romantic.

Meaning that, one day, she wanted Lucy to sing a romantic song to Sting. The realization made her brown eyes widened.

"I can't sing!" she cried out.

Leo gazed down at Lucy, both of them still behind the counter, blinking, "Of course you can sing, it's why you never miss karaoke nights."

She ran her fingers through the side of her golden locks, frustratingly pull them behind her ear. "It's a complicated situation. I have to act. Not sing."

Beatrice casually stepped up the counter, her wallet held in front of her. Lucy quickly took her payment, thanking her for dropping by again.

"Well, if you don't want to sing, darling," the mature woman smiled, wrinkles forming on the corner of her eyes, "then perform a memorized poetry piece."

That's right! If there was anything Lucy was good at, it was quickly memorizing poetry pieces and reciting them with a confidence like no other. She was always good at that, and was proud of it when it came to her delivering free verses back in middle school.

"Thank you, Beatrice!" she beamed. "I'll keep that in mind.

"Well," the manager spoke up, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go to the auditions!"

"E-Eh?!" Lucy gasped, "They're today?!"

And how come she never saw the flyers around VZ?

"Yup, hurry it on, Lucy! You're not even supposed to work on a Sunday."

"R-Right!" Lucy gave him a nervous grin, nodding. She quickly slid on her purse, giving Aries back her position as cashier before storming out of the Star's Melody. Thank goodness she was dressed up for today, but going downtown in the bike wouldn't keep her casual appearance without having unwanted wrinkles on her pastel blue blouse. She gulped, wondering if she should just ask Aries to lend Lucy her car. She actually did know how to drive; Aquarius taught her. She just couldn't afford a car.

"Lucy," she quickly turned back to the café entrance at the sound of Leo's voice. With his typical suave smile, he tossed her a key. "Take my baby."

"T-Thank you!" Lucy quickly caught the key with her two hands.

She rushed over to Leo's black Camaro, a bit nervous to be driving such a car, but, hey, he did lend his baby to her. Lucy unlocked the vehicle, and quickly stepped in, tossing her purse on the passenger seat. She turned on the ignition, soon reversing and speeding her way down Strawberry Street. She admitted she wasn't prepared for the audition. Heck, she still had paperwork to do. How the heck did Leo even expect her to get in? And another question popped into her head, how did he find out about the audition even?

Shaking her head to push away surplus thoughts, Lucy made sure to keep her focus ahead of her.

Heading to downtown was a piece of cake. Much to her luck there wasn't traffic. Lucy parked in a public parking area, deciding to walk out the rest of the way to VZ. She needed to take in a breather first, needing to know how she was going to go inside and say she's late for the audition even-though-she-didn't-fill-out-the-paperwork.

It didn't take her long to approach the two enormous doors of the edifice. She gulped, slowly grabbing the handle to pull open one of the doors. Naturally, she felt hesitant, sweat producing on her palm. Her fingers curled around the handle; it took her a whole minute to finally open the door only to be greeted by a fresh breeze. Confident—that was how she needed to walk, but alas she felt like jello being shaken around specifically by no one or anything other than anxiety. The women behind the VZ counter looked over at the shaky blonde. The woman that wore a tight bun looked over at the one with a bob. In their minds, they both thought Lucy was just another girl trying to become famous with her looks.

All reality was, Lucy was scared she wasn't going to become famous because she's an unprepared mess.

Another whole minute it took Lucy to wobble to the counter. She clenched on to the white strap of her purse, bowing her head slightly.

"I-I'm here for the VZ auditions. I'm late, I know, and I have to fill out the paperwork…" she stammered over her words.

The one with the bun, who worse a name tag that read Lacy; the woman with the styled bob went by Kimberly. Lacy was the one that eyed Lucy up and down. Eyebrow arched, clearly used to girls approaching the main VZ counter in such a way.

"E-Er…My name's Lucy and I really, really need to be part of the audition—"

"Honey," Kimberly interjected, "it's too late now. Please go home."

The blonde clenched her fists, already knowing that was going to be the response. But she couldn't give up. Not now. She cleared her throat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, I know I'm late but this audition…I can't miss it!" she said, voice less shaky.

"That's what they all say," Lacy sighed. "Look there's nothing we can do. All the paperwork has been submitted."

There was still an hour left before the audition even started. Lucy had actually read the times on the flyer instead of the dates. Her eye twitched, definitely noticing how lazy the women are to pull out a few papers.

"Please, just listen—"

Another voice interjected. This time it was a male. "Yo! Somethin' the matter here?"

"How many more interruptions am I going to go through to—"when Lucy turned to look at the one that interrupted her, she swore she could feel her jaw slam against the carpet floor. She gazed at him up and down. Not believing the sight she was seeing. Even the women were taken back. Whoever thought that the one and only Natsu Dragneel was part of Vermillion Zero? Lucy could feel her breath being dragged away by her subconscious.

 _You hate him, don't you?_

Lucy shook her head at the sound of her own little devil self talking inside her head. She didn't hate Natsu anymore; she was neutral with him. Except, she never expected running into him here, or maybe she should have considering he is a famous actor. Either way, she wanted to touch his hair. Yes, touch his hair because it was something she always debated about in her head.

Is it naturally pink?

So without thinking, Lucy reached her hand out to touch his pink locks. He didn't expect her action either because when he turned to look at her, his expression was confused as it could be. She ran her fingers through his hair, surprised by the softness of it despite its spiky look; it felt natural. She was glad her long awaited question was answered, but once she made eye contact with him, reality came back.

"Uh…" her brown eyes were awkwardly locked with his olive colored ones.

The quartet wore the same confused, and awkward expression.

Quickly, she pulled her hand away, squeaking out an, "I'm sorry!"

Lucy was madly blushing. God, she felt like hitting herself with a hammer for doing that. Yeah, petting Dragneel on the first meeting, smooth, Lucy.

The response he gave her, however, was beyond unexpected. He started to laugh, and even snorted out, "Weirdo!"

The three women stared at Dragneel, blushing at his sudden laughter. It was always something about a good looking guy's laughter that could make just about anyone swoon.

"I-I'm not a weirdo!" Lucy had finally retorted, ignoring the fact that he was famous. She didn't like being called a weirdo. She got enough of that at work.

"You _just_ petted me."

Her eyebrows furrowed, mouth open to respond but nothing came out. Yeah, she had no argument. Sighing, she turned to look back at Lacy and Kimberly. "So?"

"S-Sorry," Lacy spoke up, still taken back by the scene that had just happened, "You can't be part of the audition."

Lucy's head dropped. She just had to miss her chance of being part of VZ. She bit her lower lip, not wanting to accept no as an answer at all. Right as she was about to accept defeat, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

It was Natsu's.

"Look at her determination. Sign the weirdo up," Natsu demanded, a smile on his lips.

"A-Ah?" Lucy glanced up at the pinkette, clearly confused by why he was telling them that. He didn't even know her. She petted him! Why would he demand them sign her up for the audition.

"We can't…" said Lacy.

"Lacy, he's the judge…he can recommend someone in at the last minute," Kimberly spoke up, lips pressing together right after she said that.

Hearing her made Lucy's eyes brightened up, a smile covering her face.

"You'll really recommend me?" she questioned Natsu with excitement.

He gave her a confident nod. "Truth is, I've seen ya roam outside of the building for a while now. Shit, it was starting to annoy me, so I when I saw you walk inside, figured why not give you a big push?"

The girl's energetic smile soon faded into an embarrassed one. He actually saw her dumbly roaming outside of the building.

"You're welcome!" he gave her a pat on the head, a cheeky grin on his face. "You better show me what you got at the auditions!"

Boy was it hard to not bounce of the walls. Natsu Dragneel recommended her! And he said it without seeming to think twice about it. She took every nasty word about him back and stomped on them. When he waved goodbye at her, she returned it with a bright smile.

"I'll be waiting, Luigi!" he called out.

Her eye twitched, voice booming throughout the area. "IT'S LUCY!"

She heard him snort. Wanting to go after him and whack him in the head was a thought she forced to put away. Turning back to the women, she innocently said, "Well?"

Both with a sigh and yet a smile, they gave Lucy the paperwork.

…

There were hundreds of girls in the room. Lucy gazed over at them nervously, not used to being surrounded by so many talented and/or rich girls. She sat down on a free bench, hands folded on her lap as she waited for the sections—singing, dancing, or acting—to be called out. She still couldn't help but to think back at Natsu. He was so sudden about recommending her like that. She definitely couldn't let him down if a famous actor like him got her in the audition with just a few words. When the acting section was called, Lucy and several others all followed the one that called them out.

They were taken to another room, where the sound of a woman yelling was heard.

"You're going to pay for my cheesecake!"

All the females blinked. Lucy tried to peek over several shoulders to see what the yelling was all about. She gasped at the sight of a gorgeous scarlet haired woman. She appeared beyond angry, but Lucy couldn't help but to notice her bewitching features first. She was tall, long legged, curvy, and had a larger than normal chest. She was wearing a white blouse tucked into a navy blue skirt. Her arms were angrily crossed over her chest as her gaze pierced at a young man that appeared to be part of the staff. The poor guy had such a pale face. She noticed one of his shoes was smothered in…frosting? Did he step on her dessert? Well, Lucy would have reacted the same way if someone treated her yogurt in such a way.

Lucy was honestly expected the red head to slam him against the wall, but instead she had turned her hair and strutted away. She entered the room, finally, and gazed around, noticing it was smaller than before. Even the amount of women was reduced. Lucy could count out at least twenty; some appeared confident, and others appeared nervous.

Sighing, she sat down on a free chair. Another wait.

"Ladies!" a voice called out. All eyes turned to look at another staff member. "The first part of the audition is about to begin!"

Several sighs were let out, and murmurs of not being ready slipped. Lucy wasn't sure how to feel at this point. She stood up from the chair, taking in a deep breath and letting it out.

"Here goes nothing…"

…

 **She's lucky, isn't she?**

 **Reviews are always welcomed.~~**


	3. Part Two, Auditions

**A/N: I'm sorry Sting's an ass, but he was an ass when he first appeared. I've been busy, but I've finally been able to write this chapter. Also, thanks for the reviews! It's very much appreciated. This chapter is a bit rushed, but I do intend on going back to edit the chapters once summer vacation starts. And yeah I changed the name of the fic. The new title appealed more to me. (:**

 **Star's Melody**

 **Stage Three:** _ **Part Two, Auditions!**_

… _ **.**_

There were exactly 27 women standing on the stage for the acting audition. Lucy was the 25th in line, next to the red head that was number 24. She had her arms crossed, expression showing much more confidence than needed. Behind that excitement in her eyes, something about it said she was planning on destroying all of the other women; she intimidated Lucy. Though she couldn't help but to find her stunning, especially up close. Lucy gazed over at the woman. She seemed to be about 19 or 20. The more she eyed her, the more self-conscious she was beginning to feel about herself. Compared to these other women, she wasn't much. Heck, she may be even be the youngest among these group of women. Lucy pulled her gaze away from the red head beauty, shaking her head lightly. No, there is no time for her to feel insecure. As a matter of fact, looks wise, Lucy felt confident. She was lucky enough to have the figure her mother had, and the features. She wouldn't call herself a goddess, or as good looking as the red head, but Lucy knew she wasn't ugly. Even when she was Sting's maid, she knew she had a fit figure and such. But even then, looks didn't mean talent. She knew that very well.

"I've noticed you've been looking at me for a while," murmured the woman next to her. Lucy stiffened, an embarrassed blush forming on her cheeks.

"S-Sorry!" she squeaked out as she gave her a nervous glimpse. Even her voice sounded dangerous.

"You can't afford being distracted right now…" she said, "Once the president enters, you have to show you're ready for this."

The blonde blinked, surprised by her reaction; she had expected to be retorted at. She looked over at the row of judges. There were five of them including Natsu Dragneel. The president's seat was empty which was odd considering the auditions were going to start right now. Natsu was leaning back against his chair lazily with his gaze fixed up at the ceiling. Eventually he caught Lucy staring and raised an eyebrow. She gave him a crooked smile, but he didn't return it. Right, he wouldn't smile until she actually passed the audition. He got her in as a recommendation, so Lucy definitely had to do her best.

"Where is that damned president," the red head scowled but not loud enough for the judges to hear.

"M-Maybe he's caught in traffic?" Lucy stammered, taken back by her sudden scowl.

The front doors soon opened, the sudden light blinding the girls. From her squinting eyes Lucy caught a glimpse of the figure approaching. It was a girl—a very young looking girl. She emerged through the doors wearing a white dress with a light pink vest over her shoulders. She had incredibly long, blonde locks of waves. All eyes went to her, even the judges. There was a silence as she walked over to her spot…barefooted. Lucy let out a small gasp when she saw her sit on the President's chair. That girl is the president? Lucy kept staring until a voice cut through her daze.

"Sheesh, president, late as always!" groaned—surprisingly enough to Lucy—Natsu.

The President poked her tongue out at the actor, flipping her blonde waves back. Lucy was sure she wasn't the only one surprised by the appearance of the young girl. Glimpsing over at the redhead, Lucy noticed the shock filling her expression as well. None of the ladies dared say anything, however.

"Alright!" her high pitched voice spoke up, "Let's begin with introductions!"

The judges all lifted their pens, except for Natsu, who lazily handled a clipboard.

Lucy stiffened slightly, the nervousness returning now that the first part was about to start. All of the women were called up by their number. They all gave brief introductions, stating their purpose for the audition, and how joyful they were for being part of the VZ auditions. One of the women stuck out more than the previous ones. She had long, curly hair, and was wearing a tight, green dress. She lifted her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

"Evergreen," she began, "You probably already know me. I was Little Miss Titania a few years ago, and now I'm here to become the greatest actress ever!"

And that was that. Evergreen had a hand on her hip, chin up as if she was a type of elegance; she was an elegance that was stiff, made of stone—fake per se. Then when it was the red head's turn, Lucy felt a different aura compared to the brunette. Chin up with confidence, not boastful, eyes shining, and arms still on her sides.

Her voice complimented her posture.

"Erza Scarlet. As well as Ms. Evergreen, I was also Little Miss Titania not that long ago." Evergreen shot Erza a glare; they were clearly rivals. "My purpose here now is to express myself as an actress; to become one with the part of taking on another persona…" her voice had faded ever so slightly, but Erza continued, "Becoming an artist is what keeps me going forward, giving me a reassurance that there is still humanity. I want to inspire others through television or even theatre. Acting is my career choice, and my passion. That is all."

Listening to Erza's reasoning made Lucy question her own. What was she there for? Not that long ago she demanded revenge on Sting, and to become greater than him. She began to falter if the judges would even accept her reasoning. And Natsu…what if she said: "I'm here to become a better star than Sting!" What would he think? She couldn't disappoint him after he got her in. She had to find her reason.

Her mom? A better future?

"Miss?" a judge's voice called out to her.

Lucy blinked, waking up from her thoughts. Damn her for easily getting distracted. Quickly, she regained her posture.

"Lucy," she introduced herself, completely shoving her last name away. She took in a deep breath, exhaling after saying, "I'm here for myself. I want to create, express, have fun—find my true self. I want to put in risks with the choices I make to become an actress. I'm also here for a journey. Through acting I want my voice to be heard by others so they can laugh, cry, yell, or hate at. I want to give the audience a story, a performance they can never forget."

And since she was the last one to introduce herself, everyone was dismissed. As Lucy walked away from the stage, she caught a glimpse of Natsu giving her a thumbs up, a cheeky grin on his face. It took Lucy her all to not return the grin.

So far so good.

… _._

"Miss Lucy," Erza walked up the blonde from inside the waiting room. "I like you. You really have the spirit…Unlike some others here."

Lucy glanced around the girls preparing themselves for the talent part of the audition. She could see why Erza had said that. Some of them weren't even bothering with preparing for the next part.

"T-Thank you," Lucy squeaked out, feeling intimidated yet again by the presence of the scarlet haired beauty.

"I did notice, however, that you didn't say your surname. Why is that?" she questioned.

"Ah…" Lucy scratched her cheek, wondering who else caught that.

Erza chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't pry. I'll just assume you want to go by just your name like other popular artists nowadays."

"Y-Yeah…" she gave a brief nod.

"Good luck on stage," Erza gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before walking off. Again, Lucy just nodded. It was tempting to already consider Erza a friend, but she scarcely knew the woman. And besides, she seemed for more professional to be around a newb like Lucy. She sighed, opening her notebook to recite the poem in her head.

The poem was written by an old actress by the name of Anna Heartfilia (a lot of Lucy's family members were part of the acting industry.) The piece of writing was for an old movie, _the Cursed Lovers_. Anna—well, as Lucy recalled—wrote that poem for her fellow co-actor, but it was then performed for the audience and not for the man she loved. Later on that poem became a big hit in the literature world, and the one who got the credits for it was the writer of the film. Now there was a difference between the poem on the film and Anna's which was Anna's being much longer and romantic. Romance, yes, was a delicate topic for Lucy, which was why she was going to add a different emotion into it. When she was young, that poem was, and quite literally, part of her blood. She loved it; she felt enchanted by it.

And she wanted the judges to feel that sort of enchantment with her performance.

As she read the poem in her head, she closed her eyes, hands gesturing about. Women glanced over at Lucy, and she knew. In all honesty, she felt quite embarrassed, but knew she had to suck it up. She wasn't showing her talent to them, but to the judges. She knew all those stanzas by heart like Anna, and no other actress/actor could memorize a whole script. Yeah, it was weird to recite a poem as part of the talent audition, but she considered it her talent therefore she was going to show it.

Singing, tap dancing, baton twirling—those were talents all so common. Lucy had decided to be different.

Once she decided she was all set, she glanced over at the stage by the curtains. Not surprisingly enough, there was another woman actually tap dancing. Even the judges seemed to be full of boredom. Natsu was starting to doze off himself which wasn't very professional of him, but who could blame him? Lucy herself was just spacing off into the stage, waiting for them to finish. She was completely zoned for a solid twenty minutes.

That was until she heard a woman bellow.

Lucy along with the judges bolted up. Everyone was wide eyed at the sight of Erza holding out a real, real holy-crap-it-was-real rapier blade. She was dressed in fencing attire, her hair held back into a braid, but she wasn't wearing the mask. The blonde's eyebrow arched with curiosity, but she couldn't believe Erza actually had a weapon with her at the auditions! The rest of the women behind Lucy were holding the same disbelief.

"The Battle of Morning Star," Erza chanted. And she began to slide her feet about. Her movement was full of grace as she pierced the air. To others, she may have seemed like a fool poking the air while moving around senselessly; however, the judges knew what the Battle of Morning Star was. It was from a play written many years ago and was said to be a play with "natural actors." There weren't any stunt doubles nor dolls used for the fight scenes.

Erza was no stunt double, and she was no doll. Natsu was staring at her with excited eyes, watching her every movement from how she back flipped to how she threw herself with a determined expression. If that wasn't considered a talent to some, then it should be considered a talent.

Lucy wasn't familiar with the play, but Erza's audition was enough to make her want to know how the original went. Erza's figured curved, ducked, slid back, fell, and she landed on her knees, looking down at the stage floor in front of the judges. Her gaze was fallen, but slowly she looked up. And that was when fear struck the judges. The determined expression Erza wore was gone, and instead she had the look of a demon—fear striking. Yet one of the judges appeared to not have fear. Instead the President was looking over at Erza with a poker face. Surely, Erza must have noticed, but she remained on her knees until she was finished.

A woman behind Lucy spoke up, "What was _that_?"

"Some barbaric movie scene," snorted a woman.

Lucy's eye twitched. How dare they call the play a movie, and Erza barbaric! Badly did she want to look back and retort, but she couldn't. When Erza walked backstage, the best thing Lucy could do was give her a thumbs up.

Erza responded with a smile.

Lucy's turn was up.

She cleared her throat. Once her name was called she stepped over to the stage, feeling as jittery as ever. She kept telling herself it was normal feeling, but boy, was her stomach curling. She's felt nervous before but this time it was different. This wasn't being a waitress trainee, or cooking for Sting. Taking in a deep breath, she started:

 _She was lost in time. Nothing but the stars guided her. Then she met a man who had committed a crime…_

She let her voice scream, cry, and speak with joy.

Lucy didn't get a reaction from Mavis Vermillion either.

When returning backstage, Erza quickly walked up to her and smiled. Weakly, Lucy smiled back. She felt a bit discouraged from not getting anything from the President. She even felt like giving up, and not doing the last part of the audition. Natsu wasn't even as excited as he was with Erza's performance. He was just staring at Lucy. That was it.

"Hey," Erza spoke up, "Keep your head up. We have two more parts of the audition to go through and we'll see where our fates lie."

"Yeah…" she murmured in response.

… _ **.**_

" _Yes…Yes…"_

Lucy's head turned to Erza who was holding a cellphone against her ear. She raised an eyebrow, wondering just what was on the other line. She was touched by Erza's serene expression though. Her piercing eyes were gentler, and her lips were parted ever so slightly.

The cellphone was soon passed by to Lucy. She took the cellphone, pressing it against her ear, unsure of what was on the other line.

"H-Hello?"

God, she felt dumb.

" _Hey, it's me…"_

Who?

" _I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I was an idiot…"_

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed.

" _I didn't mean to hurt you that way."_

Her fists clenched up. She was thinking of a certain asshole.

" _Will you forgive me? I understand if not…"_

Silence enveloped the stage. The judges were waiting for her reaction. Except Lucy didn't know how to react. The sound of that recorded was replaced by Sting's calm…soft…gentle—

No!

He was a total asshole. He would never apologize to Lucy that way. And that angered Lucy. Erza was looking over at her with a worried expression along with the other women who were just waiting.

Lucy took a deep breath. The grip on her phone loosened, and her tense shoulders relaxed.

"I…I'm so glad…"

Mavis' eyes began to sparkle at Lucy's response.

She smiled, fake tears forming in her eyes. They were tears that wanted to kill, kill…yeah, kill.

Boy did she want to throw coffee at him again.

And punch that Asian's resting bitch face.

"At least…YOU WISHED!" Lucy howled, throwing the cellphone down on to the ground. She let her anger take the best of her.

Lucy was puffing with fury, but it didn't last when she looked up at the judge's expressions. Mavis was on the verge of tears. Natsu had his head slammed against the table.

"Oh no…"


	4. Anything but Overalls!

**There's going to be some slight LoLu, but it's more of a guy best friend comfort kinda thing, get me? Anyway, I ended up working during my entire summer vacation! I am physically drained guys. R.I.P**

 **Star's Melody**

 **Stage Four:** _ **Anything but Overalls**_

Her soul was leaving her body. She felt it, how could she not? She had just screwed up her audition because she let her emotions get to her! Groaning, she forced herself to sit up straight while she sat on one of the benches out of Vermillion Zero. The sky was a dessert of blue and white. People passed by with their cellphone against his or her cheek as they yelled or bantered. Lucy could only stare down at her feet against the concrete. She had made an attempt to fight back her tears, but they just slipped out. No one paid much attention to her, and she was thankful for that. The last thing she would want is Sting passing by her then daring to mock her.

 _Hah! Like I said, no talent or sex appeal!_

Her hands slammed against the wooden bench. The thought of him was just infuriating! Yet the thought of him, at the same time, made her feel as if she was slowly going to fall apart into a mush of sadness. She knew getting over him wasn't going to be easy. She wasn't aware that it wasn't going to be easy stopping her feelings for him to get in her way. If only—if only what? Nothing clear came to the woman's mind. She screwed up _badly!_

For certain, she disappointed Natsu. And he even recommended her to audition.

Her dumb self just had to screw it up—she just had to! And the more she thought about, the more the tears came.

Eventually, Lucy finally stood up from the bench. She knew it was pointless to sit there and cry all afternoon. She had to get home, and ready herself for the next day at the café.

… **.**

Once she was inside her room, she threw herself on to her bed, groaning into her pillow. Lucy didn't bother taking off her shoes. She yanked her cellphone out of her cardigan's pocket, and gazed over the screen to shuffle her playlist. The volume went up, and her sulkiness grew. Entering from the back had made it easy for her not to be spotted by the employees, so for now she embraced the depressed feeling before they barged in with sweets ready at hand. The comfort they gave wasn't an issue—that'd be a crazy thought—but Lucy did want her crying time to herself. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she re-buried her face into the pillow. Today's event was going to continue going through her mind.

What would her mom say?

" _Your voice needs…to be louder! Talk, sing as if you mean it."_

Lucy didn't mean her words over that cellphone call. She could have been honest about it. Slowly, she gathered herself up. The music from her cellphone went down, and she then pressed it against her ear. The voice from before played again through her mind. He still sounded like Sting to her, but she pushed away that thought. She wandered over to her mirror, to get a good view of her expression. Her dried lips parted slightly as if almost about to gasp, but they soon closed. Brown eyes fell on to the floor, and then to the side. They soon closed while she bit her bottom lip.

A sob escaped her lips, "I…I can't do this…"

Whether her tears were real or not, she couldn't tell.

" _Will you forgive me? I understand if not…"_ the line recited through her mind.

"How can I possibly forgive you?!" she choked, and added in a whisper, "…it's too late."

Lucy's hand fell limply to her side, clenching on to the cellphone. Gazing back up at herself, she couldn't help but to smile a bit. It was more relieving to say what she felt instead of copying others.

Just moments later, her bedroom door busted open. A frightened, and teary eyed Leo appeared in her bedroom. Lucy was quick to rub her eyes. She gaze Leo a crooked smile, but it apparently wasn't reassuring enough.

"I thought—" he started but paused. A moment later, he added, "I thought someone broke your heart again!"

"Not exactly…" Lucy gave off a weak laugh. She could feel his gaze on her was pitiful.

"Considering you aren't jumping into my arms, screaming that you love me…I assume it didn't go well?" He shut the door behind him before allowing himself to sit on her bed.

With a sigh, she sat down next to him, head falling on his shoulder. It wasn't as if she _had_ to be all alone.

"I screwed up…" murmured the blonde.

His hand was place on to her head, lightly patting it. There was a small silence until he spoke up.

"You aren't giving up, right?"

She was tempted to, but it wouldn't be in her character to just give up. Heartfilia's were rare to give up on something. Her mother would have smiled at her and would say to try again.

"It's…" she said in a low voice, "hard to believe that one could mess up so _badly_."

Leo slid his hand away from her head and placed it back on the bed with his other; he leaned back against his arms, brown gaze on the ceiling.

"You know what my real name is?"

Lucy shook her head in response. That was practically the only thing she didn't know about him. She didn't think any other employees knew either.

"Well…It's Loke," he let out a sigh.

Lucy almost snorted. The references she could pull out with just that name.

"I know," he groaned. "Before I started working here and whatnot, I was just Loke. This is going to be hard to believe, but I was soo unpopular with the ladies back then."

Holding back an eye roll was harder than holding back a snort.

"You're telling me this why?" Her eyes flickered up at him.

"I just felt like telling you," he gave her a light shrug. "Just make sure not to tell anyone. Personally, I enjoy the way my Zodiac name makes women curious on what my real name is." He gave Lucy a wink.

"How come you didn't give me a Zodiac name?" The blonde questioned.

"I told you! I just happen to like your name."

"It'd be cooler to have a Zodiac name!" Lucy puffed out her cheeks.

Loke flicked her forehead, letting out a chuckle as he said, "Too late for that. Everyone knows and loves you as just Lucy."

A blush coated her cheeks. If what he said was truly meant, then she didn't have a need to be changing her name to a Zodiac one. All the clients were nice to her and knew her as plain old Lucy. She smiled at her manager—and pretty much her best friend ever since she started working here—and he returned the smile.

A knock on the door caused both of them to quickly turn towards it.

"Miss Lucy? We heard your depressing music from the kitchen," it was Aries, and her usual worried voice.

"I-I didn't think it was that loud..." Lucy answered with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Sorry, Aries, but do you mind giving us a little _privacy_?" The manager called out with a grin curving the corner of his lips.

"Eek! I'm sorry!" They both heard Aries scramble off in embarrassment.

Lucy gaped at him, not hesitating to pound him on the head. He cried out in response but then laughed.

"Alright, I'm going to head off now. In the mean time, I want you to rest well because you're going to VZ again tomorrow," Loke got up from the bed, stretching out his arms as he did so.

"I am?" She blinked.

"Yes."

If she were to go back, she wasn't sure what she was going to do let alone even say. Yet she knew she couldn't give up.

Lucy gave him a determined nod, "O...Okay!"

She followed him out the door of the top floor, and waved good night. Lucy returned back into her room, and sighed, deciding she deserved a really, really hot bath. She pulled out her pajamas and a towel before wandering out into the bathroom.

… _ **.**_

This time she took her bike all the way up to Vermillion Zero. Lucy had taken her time, so she wouldn't arrive a sweaty mess. She pedaled up to the bike racks on the side of the building, and later made sure to leave her rusty thing nice and locked. With the same nervousness as yesterday, she walked up to the main entrance. Yet before she could even reach the door handle, the doors flew open.

Two security guards were dragging out the red head Lucy met yesterday. She seemed to have been struggling until the doors flew open.

"You have to accept me! Please!" Erza exclaimed. "Plea—"

Both women made direct eye contact. The security guards released Erza's arms, and nudged her out of the building. She looked back at them and scoffed before turning back to Lucy.

"Lucy, that was one performance you made yesterday," Erza said after clearing her throat.

"Says you," the blonde placed her hands on her hips, head tilting slightly.

"I...I didn't get accepted yesterday," she said, sighing.

Lucy's eyes widened. Erza was insanely good, how could she have not been accepted?

"If you don't mind me asking, why?"

 _The microphone was soon handed to Erza by Evergreen. Mavis, the President, had asked each woman a personal question that involved much of their opinion. Erza was nervous about what kind of question she was going to receive. She was a very blunt and honest woman, so she didn't need to show off that side of her._

 _She waited for Mavis's question. Several seconds later, she finally asked: What does love mean to you?_

 _Erza's mind had gone blank. She wasn't very positive about the feeling of love. To her it wasn't hugs and kisses—having a fight and later making up. No, it was none of that. Love was a feeling Erza could never grasp and cradle. She didn't believe in it nor would she ever later on in life._

 _"Love..." She began, "is a feeling that I believe is pointless to have, and it gets in your way. Love does not provide anything important in life such as oxygen or water. It only gets in the way whenever you want to accomplish something. Not only that, but if either partner gets hurt in a relationship, too much drama happens. Therefore the feeling of love to me is nothing but emotions that excite you, but let you down later on. Especially family love. Such a thing is only forced."_

 _There was a long silence in the room. The women on stage were gaping at Erza, not believing what she had just said._

 _The President was staring at Erza, wide eyed, jaw dropping slightly. It wasn't long before tears started streaming down her eyes. Next to her, Natsu Dragneel was cackling like there was no tomorrow._

 _"She's honest! Mavis we gotta keep her!" Natsu wiped a slight tear from laughter from his eye._

 _"N-No!" Mavis cried out, pouting like a five year old._

"And that's that..." Erza sighed.

The two were seated on a wooden bench by VZ. Erza had her elbows against her knees, hands sulking over either sides. Her head was dropped in embarrassment.

"Well," Lucy finally spoke up, "It seems like we're both in a tough spot..."

"I can't let such a thing get in the way of me becoming an actress," Erza sighed.

Lucy stood up from the bench, remembering why she agreed that she was coming back. She also didn't want a dumb mistake get in the way of her becoming better than Sting.

"Let's back! We'll wait in the front doors for an agent to come out or something. We've tried so hard to get accepted, it can't end now!" Lucy said, confidence in her voice.

Erza stared up at her, a small smile curving her lips. Lucy smiled down at her, and offered her hand. The red head took it and stood up. They made their way back to the VZ entrance. When Lucy said they would wait in the front doors, she really meant it. Along with Erza, she sat down on her knees, and they would patiently wait. Those that came and entered stared at the women, puzzled. Lucy was starting to feel bashful. Maybe sitting in front of the entrance was a bit too much? She peeked over at Erza, and was surprised to see her staring directly at the doors. Admiration washed over the blonde all over again. Deciding to be like her, she also stared straight at the doors.

"Two beautiful women sitting in front of doors? Now what's this all about?" a man's voice spoke up behind them. Lucy and Erza were quick to jump to their feet. They turned to face a handsome man around his forties with brown, slicked back hair.

"And you are?" Erza was quick to inquire.

"My manager, Gildarts," Natsu's head was barely visible over Gildarts'.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy blurted out. Remembering what happened yesterday, however, made her quickly look away in shame.

"Hey, it's the weirdo!" The pink haired man stepped beside his manager. His expression was as lively as ever. His sharp teeth stuck out when he smiled at them.

"It's Lucy!" She snapped, eyes quick to glare at him. He only chuckled at her.

"Lemme guess, you're desperate to join VZ?" Natsu raised an eyebrow as he gazed over both Erza and Lucy.

"We are," Erza answered without hesitation again.

"Y-Yeah..." Lucy murmured.

"Oh, are these two the ones you spoke to me about, Natsu?" Gildarts grinned over at the women.

"Yup!" He nodded.

"I can't believe they lack the love to be in here," he commented.

"Excuse us?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Vermillion Zero is all about love and friendship," Gildarts pointed out while crossing his arms, "I heard from both Natsu and the President you both need a lecture about love."

"Nonsense!" Erza exclaimed, arms also crossed as she glared up at him.

"Anyway," Natsu said, attention turning to Lucy, "We're in luck to find you here because starting today you both will be working here!"

"Eh?!" The duo turned to look at Natsu in shock.

How was it possible they got accepted? Lucy hoped that they saw through their talent as actresses. Yeah, that definitely had to be why. Natsu placed a hand on Erza and Lucy's shoulder.

"Well, let's go get your uniform!"

Lucy glanced back at him, " _Uniform?_ "

When they entered the building, they were greeted by the coolness of the AC. They'd forgotten how hot it was outside. The women were led down the front floor, and up a staircase. Lucy argued that they should have used the elevator, but got ignored.

"Are these the new recruits?" A young man wearing an ear piece for calls approached them.

"Yup!" Natsu nodded. "Good luck you two!"

Him and Gildarts waved to them. Lucy watched them walk into the elevator. She wanted to call out to them, and question what the whole uniform deal was about. Before she could, the young man started dragging them away.

"Boy, I'm glad you guys are here! I kept telling the security guards to bring you here instead, but they just wouldn't listen, Ms. Scarlet!" He let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well, I was making quite a scene..." Erza scratched her cheek.

"What do you mean by recruitments, by the way?" Lucy asked.

"You two are part of a new program! The President called it Fairy Heart, and you are the first members! Your job will be assisting others, and if you do a well job you get points for it," he explained while rushing down the hallway. Erza had no trouble walking as fast as him, but Lucy felt as if she was about to lose her breath.

"So...we aren't acting?" Erza came to a sudden stop. Lucy almost bumped into her.

The ear piece guy also came to a stop and nodded. "The President sees your abilities in becoming fine actresses, but you first need to gain love points before finally going out into the acting world."

"That's ridiculous!" The redhead exclaimed. Lucy had to agree with her there, but at the same time it did make sense.

"I see..." Lucy nodded, "so in order for us to be recognized as pros, we need to handle the small tasks, learn what love is, and climb our way to the top?"

"Exactly!"

The blonde gave Erza a small pat on the shoulder. "If we do this together, I'm sure things will turn out just fine! Besides, this is our only chance to be working here!"

She gave her a slight nod. The trio started walking down the hall again until reaching a room that read "Female Locker Room."

"I'll wait out here," he said.

Lucy was the first to enter followed by Erza. The locker room was pretty small, but clean at least. She gazed around a bit, eyes soon falling on to two uniforms hung by two lockers. Her jaw dropped at the sight of them. One pink overall had a name tag that said "Lucy", and the other was a purple one that read "Erza."

"I can't wear that..." She mumbled.

"Erza, we ca—"

Erza was already changing into her uniform. Lucy blushed at the sight of the naked woman. She had a very toned figure, and breasts any woman would be jealous of. Lucy looked away, waiting for her to finish.

"It's kind of comfortable," Erza finally said as she pulled the zipper up. She adjusted the belt on that dangled from her hips; a logo with F.H inside a pink heart was on it.

Lucy took her own uniform from the hanger, and stared down at it. Why overalls? It could have been anything _but_ overalls. She even encouraged herself to be part of this new section. If Sting saw her like this, it would be the end of her.

"I can't believe this," she sighed.

When she finished staring at her uniform in disgust, she finally changed. She looked over at the mirror, sighing as she pulled her hair into two low ponytails. Erza did the same, but just kept a side ponytail. The uniform also came with two pairs of Converse. That was probably the decent part of the outfit. Lucy slipped on her shoes, and then stepped out of the locker room.

" _Oh my God_! I knew you'd look lame!" Natsu Dragneel's voice made her eye twitch, and her leg swing.


End file.
